Orthorecursive expansion of unity

Abstract

We study the properties of a sequence cn defined by the recursive relation \[\frac{c_0}{n + 1}+\frac{c_1}{n + 2}+\ldots+\frac{c_n}{2n + 1}=0\] for $n>1$ and $c_0=1$. This sequence also has an alternative definition in terms of certain norm minimization in the space $L^2([0, 1])$. We prove estimates on growth order of $c_n$ and the sequence of its partial sums, infinite series identities, connecting $c_n$ with harmonic numbers $H_n$ and also formulate some conjectures based on numerical computations.